Piña Colada (Puerto Rican)

This tropical cocktail is prepared by blending white rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice in a blender with ice. Alternatively, the ingredients can also be shaken in a cocktail mixer glass, or just added to the glass together with ice. Recipes, however, do vary in the proportions of the ingredients used, as well as the type of rum. Some noted variations on the original include Amaretto Colada which has amaretto in place of white rum and Chi Chi which has vodka instead of rum. A combination of strawberry daiquiri and piña colada is called Lava Flow, while Kiwi Colada is made with kiwifruit. There is also a non-alcoholic version of the cocktail is called Virgin Piña Colada or Piñita Colada. Piña Colada is served in a large goblet or a Hurricane glass with a couple of straws and garnished with a pineapple wedge and/or maraschino cherry.

Translating as "strained pineapple", Piña Colada got its name after the freshly strained and pressed pineapple juice which is used to make the cocktail. Ramón "Monchito" Marrero Pérez, one of the three bartenders from Puerto Rico who claim have invented it, states he first made Piña Colada with Don Q Gold rum and the Coco López cream of coconut at the Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan in 1954. The other bartender, Ramón Portas Mingot, insists it was him who came up with the cocktail in 1963 at the Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan, while a Spaniard Ricardo Gracia claims it was him and not Monchito who first served Piña Colada at the Caribe Hilton Hotel. In 1978, Piña Colada was proclaimed the national drink of Puerto Rico and even has its own national day celebrated annually on July 10.

1 oz white rum (30 mL)
3 oz pineapple juice (90 mL)
1 oz coconut cream (30 mL)

Garnish:
pineapple wedge
maraschino cherry

Process all the ingredients in a blender with ice then pour into a Hurricane glass or a goblet and serve with a pair of straws, garnished with fresh pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

Makes 1 cocktail.

Cook's Notes: Depending on how thick or thin you'd like the cocktail to be, add more ice or more juice. You can also use fresh pineapple in combination with the pineapple juice for more texture.